"The sound in your head" amp.

[D0S3]

Many times you hear people say you want an amp that gets you closest to the sound in your head. Which amp(s) has done that for you? And if you know the name of the amp that did, what was the sound it achieved? Brown Sound? Vintage Cleans? Angus Young? All of the above?

[tjinca1]

Still trying to find mine, but I fear I don't have enough money to ever find it. I guess cuz I want my amp to get the sounds of Hendrix, ac/dc, scorpions, bonamassa, kws,etc. But even if I had it I still wouldn't sound like them.

[sickboy79]

If I had to pick one amp in my stable that really gets it - it's my 65 BF Bassman head that was modded/setup by Billy Zoom. Bass Channel modded to Mike Ness of Social Distortion's specs. Bassman heads are my overall favorite amps of all time and this one is just that much sweeter. Mike's tone is what I really go for and well, this is really it. Minus his fingers and playing style - it doesn't get any better. My other non modded Bassman heads are a close second. Great for Setzer rockabilly tones (which I'm also way into) as well.

I've got other amps that I use for other stuff and favorite tones but, that Billy Zoom Bassman is the one.

[Nelson89]

Strat into a Vox AC15HW1 in hot mode got that "sound in my head" for me, but i grew up listening to bands that use AC30s, so it didn't surprise me too much haha, it IS the first Vox i've played that got me that sound though.

Humbuckers into tiny terror with vintage 30s and a slight boost on the front end got me the "other" sound i was looking for, i guess with me, i was never a massive fan of the "marshall tone", i mean its great, but i always wanted something a little different, to me the Orange Tiny Terror (after putting some proper valves in it) was just the sound of 70s rock and roll, just turn it up and you're there, ALWAYS got complimented on that setup.

If i had to pick between them, the Vox for sure, but the Orange is definitely a cool little thing, theoretically they should play nice when i start recording both of them.

[chrisross]

Played a Fender Blues Junior for a pretty good while... Finally just thought, "Chris, this doesn't sound like you want it to sound." So I got an AC style...Morgan DAG15...now I sound how I want to sound.

All that's left to do is learn to play the dang guitar

[GAT]

My Z-Wreck comes super close, if not nailing it. I'm so impressed.

Also, I have a couple Swart STRs that I feel the same about.

I am so happy with those amps. I have others that are really cool too, but the Z and the Swarts get 90% of my playing time these days.

[Greaser]

Tweed bassman for me. Any sounds it can't do, I can get with pedals, which it takes extremely well. It sounds great at low volume and can also get super loud. I think there's something special about those 4x10's.

[earthlydescent]

Mesa Boogie Electra Dyne. The EQ is amazingly voiced. The reverb is lush and full. I've adapted a very Mark Knopfler-esque tone as my own. I love how the more you dig in, the more it gives. I will own one some day.

[Glide]

Komet Concorde

[XmasTree]

ive found a distortion pedal that dominates all sounds that i like and is the closest thing to the sound in my head

Greenhouse Effects No Brainer

also,
the sound in my head embodies a level of skill and talent that i just cannot get to.
that's why it's "the sound in your head" - a daydream


**
oh, you meant AMP!
...nope, haven't been there yet.

[teleman55]

My Deluxe Reverb.

[lareplus]

I want to sound like a saxophone! guess I'll have to wait. .

[tylerfreak]

Clean - Two Rock Custom Reverb Sig
Rhythm - Crunchy Marshall (possibly boosted)
Lead - Diezel Einstein but less smooth and compressed with a tad of Mesa Mark raw nastiness thrown in.


Now someone put all 3 in one box please!

[Rumble]

That would be a '50s Premier 71 like Link Wray used. That's the sound in my head. Trouble is, finding one, and then, finding one with working tremolo. But wait...there's more...I have just restored one, and that sound in my head, is now in my music room!

:banana:rockin

[ES350]

A tweed Pro (5E8A preamp) with a 5F6A output section and a high-power (75 watts?) version of the late 50s P15N...I'm waiting.

[Rusty G.]

Something that worked equally well with Humbucker guitars, Tele's, Strats, Ric's and P-90 guitars. . .Does that exist. . .

Amps I've got:
1) I like the first channel of my Matchless DC 30 with a Ric 360, set to slight breakup;
2) I like the sound of my Vox AC 15 (2 X 10's) with a Strat with a Maxon 808 Overdrive set to slight breakup. . .
3) Germino Club 40 with Koll Duo Glide with Lollar Imperial Humbuckers. . .

I'd like to be able to get something that breaks up like a Fender Tweed Deluxe, Champ, Harvard and can also get Blackface tone that I can set a pedal in front of for OD and Lead/Solo work. . .

What I'm looking for is another recording and grab 'n go combo, probably something in the tweed camp. . .Prefer a 1 X 12. . .maybe go a 2 X 10 or 2 X 12. . .I'm thinking Tungsten Crema Wheat or Buckwheat; or Swart or maybe a Morgan PR12 or the next higher up amp. . .decisions, decisions. . .

[Aslan]

Fender Tweed Harvard is my sound, a close second is a tweed deluxe.

[slagg]

I want to sound like a saxophone! guess I'll have to wait. .

PTD Mini Bone might get u close with some tweaking.

[smolder]

Sometimes I'm hearing jimi, other times it's Duane... And then sometimes Jerry's in there. Don't have an amp that covers them all.

[D0S3]

The only real sound I constantly grab on to is Jimi Hendrix sound at Woodstock and Ritchie Blackmore solo in Child in Time. A Diezel like thud for the rock riffs especially since Tool has been one of my favorite bands for a long time. Cleans are probably a Fender. Chimey, clean, reverb engulfed, don't know enough about Fender amps to pick a model that would fit that best.

[ecbluesman54]

Sommatone OD35, doesn't really sound like anything else, but love the crunchy blues/Classic rock tones it does, and cleans up great with killer reverb.

[Snap]

The '64 Bassman that I borrowed from a friend for one gig was certainly the closest I've ever come to my dream tone...now if I could just afford one.

[crimson on pink]

Something between a sunn coliseum pa and a cranked hiwatt dr103. Duane denison meets leslie west. Diff tones for sure, but I'm getting there.

[v-verb]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v709/v-verb/P1050106.jpg

Sweet cleans, crushing overdrive, liquid leads. Super touch sensitive.

This one is in the same ballpark
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v709/v-verb/P1050084.jpg

[shanesiegle]

I have multiple personalities so depending on the day it's either my Budda Superdrive 30 series II head\g-flex cab or my new Fryette Sig X. The Budda has the best lead tone I have ever encountered but the Fryette covers more sonic territory, extremely well than anything else I have ever used. I am truly a blessed guy!

[LPMojoGL]

Soldano HR50+ was the first one that was like, "That's THE sound!"

[LPMojoGL]

I have multiple personalities so depending on the day it's either my Budda Superdrive 30 series II head\g-flex cab or my new Fryette Sig X. The Budda has the best lead tone I have ever encountered but the Fryette covers more sonic territory, extremely well than anything else I have ever used. I am truly a blessed guy!

Dude, you're stepping up to some really nice amps after that Blackstar! You have to admit that those two amps kill the BS. I dig the Sig:X. Had a Budda SD18II, got rid of it as soon as I got a Soldano HR50+. I'm pretty sure that is the tone I've been chasing to this day.

[wildschwein]

Clean: Black or Silverface Fender Twin Reverb
Distorted Rhythm: late 70s Marshall JMP master volume
Lead: Mesa Mk 1 dirty channel
- all this with an Echoplex

In the real world I use a Mesa Rocket 44 1x12 combo which is 3 channels and I always use a Boss RE-20 Space Echo in the loop - it's easier to cart around than the dream set-up!

[bluesmann8]

I'm not sure I would say what amp did that but more what TUBE did it. I look back to a old ampeg reverberrocket that i had modded to take a pair of EL34 power tubes. I'm sure the preamp tubes were still the orignal ones that came with the amp. What ever they were would probably be called NOS today.. All i used with that amp was a LPB1 last in line with my guitar plugged into a orignal MXR phase 45. I've never been able to get that sound sinse. I'm still seeking.................

[LPVM]

This....

http://i706.photobucket.com/albums/ww70/2266vm/2266VMHalfstack.jpg

...and this.

http://i706.photobucket.com/albums/ww70/2266vm/Livingroomamp.jpg

[Ches]

My MAZ18 through a closed back cab sounds great, but when we gig I grab my Top Hat Super Fat Club Deluxe about 95% of the time. I made a couple changes for last night's gig. I put in a WGS Veteran 30 and changed the power tubes from EL34's to 6L6's. I'm hooked. Nice, throaty crunch, cleans up well, and takes pedals all day long if needed.
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y29/guitarspam04/100_2798.jpg

[Alister]

Louis Electric KR-12.
And yes, I have one.

I've always wanted the 'best of both worlds" of tweed and Marshall, at least in my own notion of that. Louis probably had the same thing in mind. None of the tweed twins I've played have this "extra sauce."

[pbmw]

For me, it's been the JTM45 for a long time
It just nails the sound in my head

[buzzp]

i love brit rock and the tone in my head is very close to that so Vox ac15 and ac30s do it for me... they make everything else seem so lifeless

[big mike]

Combination of 50 watt lead spec plexi and a jubilee
Run together.

[LSchefman]

Mine's generally a Two Rock Custom Reverb v3 for clean-to-edge of breakup leads, and also the OD channel for solos.

But I also hear other "sounds in my head," and they are:

Mesa Mark V for certain sounds, rhythm playing, and it's very easy to get a great recorded sound with. I use this amp for recording more than any other (I don't get to solo on ad music tracks much).

60s Vox for classic British Invasion sounds.

Roccaforte for classic Marshall style tones.

[Scott Auld]

Top Hat Super Deluxe.

Stairway to Heaven solo tone in a giggable, 1x12 box.

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5311/5877848025_ce8949b4f7_b.jpg

[sunken.anchor]

Morgan DAG15 all the way. Turn the volume up till there's some hair around the edges and with my Jazzmaster, it's pure bliss.

[MRscratch]

my 51 no caster into my vicky 20112 is pretty much my dream tone.
also my 69 plexi is now becoming a favorite.
of course, its hard to beat my Trainwreck express, but im really in love with tweed right now.

[v-verb]

my 51 no caster into my vicky 20112 is pretty much my dream tone.
also my 69 plexi is now becoming a favorite.
of course, its hard to beat my Trainwreck express, but im really in love with tweed right now.

tough amp choice - my heart goes out to you:aok

[Miles]

The sound in my head is guitar that is sloppy, mid gain, lots of cut and clarity, something raunchy but warm, mean but aurally endearing.

A lot of amps actually do this, the issue for me is the VOLUME at which they accomplish it.

[ziehmrd]

Top Hat Super Deluxe.

Stairway to Heaven solo tone in a giggable, 1x12 box.

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5311/5877848025_ce8949b4f7_b.jpg

Beautiful LP, also gotta love the simplicity of a 1x12 combo.

Cheers

[motokev]

I'm a fan of David Gilmour. I love his tone. I've thought about his tone and how to achieve it for many years. I think that HiWatt cranked gets there. But, like the o'l clich'e "its all in the fingers"

[Rick360]

Howdy,

AC-30 with Celestion blues. That's the sound I've been chasing since I was a teenager in the late 70s. Huge British Invasion fan, so it all makes sense now.

[Stratoben127]

67' Black Flag JTM50 cranked into the Stratosphere hit with a good Rangemaster clone. For cleans, a Dumble SSS. The only other pedals I would need are a vintage Vox Wah, an old Silicon Fuzzface, an MJM 60's vibe and a good Octave up fuzz. Oh and for studio sessions, I would use a Brown Deluxe. All of this with a 60' Darkburst LP and a 59' Fiesta Red Strat.

[bluesjuke]

my 51 no caster into my vicky 20112 is pretty much my dream tone.
also my 69 plexi is now becoming a favorite.
of course, its hard to beat my Trainwreck express, but im really in love with tweed right now.



Tweed is an awesome mistress!

[Marc Roy]

PWE Event Horizon for me. Every time I think I want something else, I plug it in and get the sound I want.

[BobbyRay]

I'm boring!!!!

Blackface Fenders.

[Greaser]

Tweed bassman for me. Any sounds it can't do, I can get with pedals, which it takes extremely well. It sounds great at low volume and can also get super loud. I think there's something special about those 4x10's.

I forgot to answer part of the question!

The clean sound in my head that I get with the bassman is somewhere between "Lenny" by SRV, and "Yellow Ledbetter" by Pearl Jam (Mike McCready).

Other sounds come through pedals, and the bassman plays great with all of them.

[Scott Auld]

Beautiful LP, also gotta love the simplicity of a 1x12 combo.

Cheers

Thanks, man

[JustJoseph]

The "sound in your head" was put there by someone else. The reason we like any sound is because we've heard it before. I like the sound of a j45 with the big ceramic adjustable saddle better than the normal one everyone replaces it with, because it's that "chugging" sound that we have heard on the Beatles and all those other classic sixties recordings. You hear it, and say:" That's it!"
because you recognize it, you've been hearing it all your life.

The saying "familiarity breeds content" was never more true than it has been with musical sounds. We want the guitars, amps, pedals, cords ( ugh...!) like our musical heroes because we want to make that sound we've been hearing.

My advice would be to use that sound for something your hero never did, or ignore it entirely and invent your own sound, and stick to it long enough to like it just as well, so that THAT becomes the sound in your head.

[MLC]

I've had 3 of those "THAT'S the sound I've had in my head all these years!" moments - all somewhat recently.

1) Plugging a Thinskin Jazzmaster into my '68 Deluxe Reverb. I finally have that 'quintessential Fender clean' tone that I've heard in my head at my fingertips.

2) Playing a Telecaster through my Mission 5E3 when the Eminence Red Fang reached that broken in point. All that wonderful touch sensitivity of the tweed circuit was revealed.

3) And most recently - plugging a Telecaster into a Gibson 'Goldtone' GA15-RV. I finally get what the whole "EL84 thing" is all about. I did have a Carvin Vintage 33 years ago, but it never sounded anything like this GA15. And the more I play through this amp, the more I like it.

[Scooter Burbank]

The "sound in your head" was put there by someone else. The reason we like any sound is because we've heard it before. I like the sound of a j45 with the big ceramic adjustable saddle better than the normal one everyone replaces it with, because it's that "chugging" sound that we have heard on the Beatles and all those other classic sixties recordings. You hear it, and say:" That's it!"
because you recognize it, you've been hearing it all your life.

The saying "familiarity breeds content" was never more true than it has been with musical sounds. We want the guitars, amps, pedals, cords ( ugh...!) like our musical heroes because we want to make that sound we've been hearing.

My advice would be to use that sound for something your hero never did, or ignore it entirely and invent your own sound, and stick to it long enough to like it just as well, so that THAT becomes the sound in your head.

I agree with this. "The sound in your head" has always smacked of pretension to me. Why not just say, "the sound I like," or "the sound I heard once," or "the sound I'm going for"? Something along those lines. It's not as if you were born with the knowledge of electric guitar sounds and you've been searching for it all your life. A quibble.

[DonaldDemon]

Splawn Pro Mod, no doubt. Took me a while to figure out I like the hot rod Marshall thing and then took me a little longer to find the one that does it just the way I like it. 6 years strong as my gigging amp.

[Greaser]

Couple of Debbie-downer posts here on this last page...

[Britishampfan]

I screwed around with old fender amps, traynors, using pedals and stuff etc

One day I plugged into a vintage superlead, it was like lightning struck!!!!! This is what I have been looking for.

[randprix]

Clean: Dr. Z Strangray
Dirty: Top Hat Emplexador
booyah!

[Scooter Burbank]

Couple of Debbie-downer posts here on this last page...

What cogent, insightful analysis. Thanks.

[grizdeluxe]

My 18 watt TMB and a Rangemaster with either Tele or Les Paul is my huckleberry.

[High Gain Junkie]

For me it was when I played a Bogner 100B and it nailed the EVH "Brown Sound" that has been floating around in my head for all of these years. I knew instantly that this was the sound for me and that this had been what was lacking in all of my previous amps, which included several Mesa's, Bogner Shiva, Laney, Fender and Oranges.


I ended up getting a good deal on a 101B of my own, and it's a great amp, but there is something about that 100B that still puts a smile on my face every time I fire it up.

[schristie]

Man that would have to be one flexible all be it "schizophrenic" with all the different tones I'd like to have one amp get... :)

[solitaire]

Been fiddling about for a little while, but I've zoomed in on three sounds that are very in-my-head-qualifiable.

Fulltone Plimsoul + Fulltone FatBoost 3 (and/ or possibly Way Huge Pork Loin/ Pie in future) -> Marshall JMP w. KT66s set semi-clean -> Fane Medusa 12-150Cs

Fulltone Catalyst -> Vox AC50 w. 6CA7s -> Fane Medusa 12-150Ss

Xotic EP Boost -> Fender Blackface The Twin w. 6L6WGCs -> Weber California 12s

[electron transl]

Tele > Bad Cat Black Cat 30R. Absolutely perfect.

[jason41224]

Orange AD30 for cleans and light->medium gain, and an Orange Rocker 30 for heavy gain.

[rsm]

I have so many "sounds in my head" but I have the gear to capture them:

Vox AC30H2 and AC15H1TV - with my Rics, my favorite guitar sounds
Marshall JMP-1, ADA MP-2 - I can get many of the 70-80s sounds I dig
Mesa Triaxis - great cleans, crunch and gain, 80s/90s
Engl E530 - modern tones, clean, overdrive, crunch, gain and high gain

I'm back (again) into racks.

[wordfromthewise]

For years i've been wanting a british high gain sound with a big full and thick wall of distortion. The orange rockerverb has been the only amp to satisfy me. Plus it has a great acdc type crunch if you want and a beautiful clean channel that is not fender per se, but is just as sweet and inspiring. great verb, simple, and tons of rich complex overtones with an addicting feel. Great amp.